Juanito Oiarzabal
Juan Eusebio Oiarzabal Urteaga (born 30 March 1956), commonly known as Juanito Oiarzabal, is a noted Spanish Basque mountaineer. He has written four books on the subject. He was the 6th man to reach all 14 eight-thousander summits, and the third to do so without supplemental oxygen. He was the first person to conquer the top three summits twice (Everest + K2 + Kangchenjunga) and the oldest climber to summit Kangchenjunga, at almost 53, until Carlos Fontan did so in 2014, at 75 years old. In 2004, he lost all his toes to frostbite after summiting K2.
Juan Eusebio Oiarzabal | |
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Juanito Oiarzabal in 2007 | |
Born | Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain | March 30, 1956
Nationality | Spanish |
Occupation | Mountaineer |
Website | http://www.juanitooiarzabal.com/ |
In 2009, he announced wanting to become the first person in history to reach a "double 14", summiting each 8000er twice. In April 2010 he reached 24 eight-thousanders, after climbing Annapurna, a world record. In 2011 he climbed Lhotse for a second time, which was his 25th eight-thousander. He is second all-time for 8000er ascents behind Nepali climber Phurba Tashi Sherpa, who has 30.